Automated parking systems are in use in closed parking lots where the vehicle is registered and identified at the entrance and at the exit barrier where the driver uses a remote control device for opening and/or closing of a barrier, and he is charged for the parking later on.
However, this is not the case with on-street parking systems. On-street parking systems must be accompanied with a payment means of some sort, such as a parking meter, paper vouchers, in-car meter, mobile means, etc.
Also, the technology of informing the public about the occupancy of on-street parking spaces is already known, and is in use in various locations. The common denominator of all these means is the need of the driver to perform specific actions at the beginning of the parking period and sometime also at the end of the parking period. Such means and actions are inconvenient to the driver, and expensive to the parking authorities.
The most popular type of parking system is the traditional parking meter or the more advanced Pay & Display machine (also known as multi-space meter). However, this parking meter impose many disadvantages for the motorist who is forced to carry coins, has to decide in advance for how long parking time to pay, he cannot be refunded in the case of a shorter parking period, and he in some cases he has to walk a long distance to the meter and back to his car.
From the point of view of the authorities, a system of parking meters involves a significant investment in infrastructure, particularly for installing on-street facilities, for maintaining them, for collecting the parking fees, for controlling the parking zones, and for enforcing the parking regulation.
Even the most advanced parking systems, which are based on a cellular (mobile) phone communication, still involve certain operational costs for both sides. The motorist must make two phone calls for the activation and termination of the parking session and he may often forget to terminate the session. The motorist must also inform the call center about his parking location, city, street or zone of which he often doesn't know all these details. In many occasions the user activates the parking session in zones or on times where his vehicle is not allowed to park (residential areas for instance). In such cases, (that are quite often), the parker is charged for the parking time and receives a ticket in addition for violating the regulations. Most of the known cellular parking systems are not able to control the specific location of the parker and prevent such inconveniences. As for the authorities, the inspection of the cellular parking system involves the use of dedicated and expensive terminals and/or cameras that use the LPN (License Plate Number). The use of these means doubles or even triples the enforcement manpower required for enforcing the cellular parking system compared to the traditional systems.
Another disadvantage of the cellular system is caused by the difficulties to operate and control a diversification of specific parking regulations per each particular zone at any given time, which is very commonly used by municipalities.
Still another disadvantage of the Cellular Parking System results from the fact that the user can easily extend the parking session beyond the time limit in a way the authorities are not able to control. For example, if a specific parking zone allows parking for a maximum period of two hours, at the end of the two hours the parker can call the Host to extend the parking. The authorities cannot verify whether the parker has moved his car to another parking space within a same zone (and in that case the latter parking is valid), or alternatively whether he just extended the parking without moving the car, i.e., while staying in a same parking space (and in that caser the parking is illegal).
An ordinary motorist, who considers the on-street parking as his basic right and could hardly agree to pay for it, doesn't like to be bothered with complicated and inconvenient payment procedures. In view of the above complications the authorities only “add fuel to the fire” and they are finally forced to spend significant expenses for the enforcement.
It becomes obvious that the more we facilitate the parking procedure for the motorist, the less the authorities have to spend on enforcement. Thus, a friendly parking system serves above all the interest of the parking authority.
US 2006/0152349 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,676 disclose parking systems that suffer from at least several of the drawbacks listed above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automated parking system where the motorist does not have to perform any action before, during or after the parking session.
It is still an object of the present invention to provide an automated parking system where the need of the motorist to provide information such as zone number, city, address, etc., which is usually required by cellular parking and in-car parking systems is eliminated. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a system where the parking fee is automatically charged at the bank or credit account of the motorist at the end of each month.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an automated parking system where the need of the authority to employ manpower for patrolling the parking streets is significantly reduced. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system which automatically reports parking violators in real time, including the exact location of the violating car, while only suspected cars are attended by the inspection.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an on-line updated in real time database which stores indications with respect to the occupancy of each and the entire parking spaces, thereby enabling providing on-line information to the public on locations of free spaces.
It is still an object of the present invention to provide a system which eliminates the need for installing expensive equipment on sidewalks, which is often subjected to vandalism, weather, and traffic damages in addition to their unaesthetic appearance and occupation of space. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to save over 75% of the equipment investment per parking space, while providing unseen elements along the parking streets and the sidewalks.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system which is essentially maintenance-free, with almost no operational costs.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a most reliable and enforceable system for preventing any attempt to extend the duration of a parking session beyond its legal time limit.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a reliable and enforceable system for controlling in real time any kind of misuse of classified or dedicated parking spaces such as residential or handicapped by unauthorized vehicles.
It is still another object of the present invention to simplify and improve residential and permit parking management.
It is still another object of the invention to provide the advantages of the present invention either when the parking car has a dedicated in-car device or when he does not have a parking device, while the car driver uses a cellular phone for paying the parking fees.
It is still another object of the invention to enable an automatic termination of the parking session at the moment when the car has left the parking space, even when the parking car is not provided with an in-car device. More specifically, the automatic termination of the parking space can take place even if the driver of the parking car has used his Cellular Phone to initiate his parking session. This is in contrast to the conventional cellular parking system where the user has to call a dedicated call center to inform termination of the parking. Moreover, the Host of the system can verify that the car has indeed left the parking space, in contrast to the cellular system where the such a verification cannot be remotely made.
It is still another object of the invention to send a warning signal to a Cellular parker in case he approaches a parking space where this vehicle is not allowed to park, either absolutely or during this specific time of the day.
It is still another object of the invention to reduce the relatively high enforcement costs of the Cellular Parking System by integrating it to the significant less expensive enforcement method of the present invention of the Automated Parking System.
It is still another object of the invention to enable the authorities to precisely enforce the parking time limits even while a Cellular Parking is system is used.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system for locating stolen cars, suspected cars, or cars that have not paid parking tickets issued to them.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide the parking driver with the option of receiving the exact location of his parking vehicle in case he forgot it.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an automatic system for controlling the use of dedicated parking lots such as residential or handicapped lots, while differentiating between authorized and unauthorized parking cars.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.